Garment or ironing press



A. E. SNOW GARMEN'I OR IRONING PRESS Aug. 2, 1932.

Filed March 22. 192'? ATTORNEY.

185 provements.

Patented Aug. 2, 1932 PATENT; ortica ARTHUR E. SNOW, OF

CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DALY MANUEACIIURING-l COMPANY, F CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO GARMENT OR IRONINGVIPRESS Application 1ed March `22, '1927. Serial No. 177,413.

My invention relates to improvements in garment or laundry presses in which means is provided for dispelling or blowing the moisture from garments during or subsequent to the steaming and pressing operation.

It is the object of my invention to provide a press having pressing members or jaws covered with a pressing cloth and an air supply which -may be blown or introduced through the heated press jaw or jaws or the pressing members and theair ywill .thus become superheated and is then Jforced through the cloth cover of the pressing member onto the work to dispel any moisture orsteam remaining in the clothing or' other articles being pressed. n V

In comb-'nation with a steaming arrangement which sprays steam or moisture on the clothing, it is also an object to provide an air dispelling or spraying arrangement which may be controlled automatically,'or by a unit control for compressedA air co-operatively connected with a steam spray control.

It is further my object to provide a novel V type of valve :for controlling the flow of steam or air spray to a pressing jaw member, which valve isv not subject to leakage because of the improved structure which I employ.

The vabove and other objects are accom- 30 plishedby the combination and arrangement of parts shown as an example of the invention in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment or clothing press showing my new im- Figure 2 is a sectional view along the lines 2--2 in Figure 1 showing the vcombination steam and air spray valve control in more detail than is shown in the perspective view.

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of my novel leak-proof steam spray valve removed from the press head.

Generally indicated at 1 is a press supporting pedestal or frame in which is pivotally mounted the rocker arm or press'lever 2 which carries the pressing head 8. The power for actuating the press is provided by any appropriate means as by a magnet i which increases the pressing engagement of the head against the buck 5 when the head is manually moved to a position close to that of pressing engagement. The control for the electric lines for energizing the magnet are enclosed in the conduits 6 and the switch boX 6a for which the operative control isa handle?. The operator places the garment to be pressed on the buck and then manually lowers the head. As the head approaches the buck 5, the magnet which has been energized by turning on the current with the switch 6a, attracts anarrmtture 8 carried on the lower .of two toggle members 8b which forces the reary end of the upper toggle link and rocker 2 .upwardly and thus causes a strong pressing engagement of the head. The electric power applied to the magnet may be varied by means of the rheostatl 8d. The toggle connections andarrangements form no part ofmy invention and have not been shown in detail, since any customary structure will serve against the buck. rlhe upper toggle link carries a weight 80.

The head is ordinarily made up of several parts, a lower one or press plate 8a which has channels or a spray chamber 9 therein eX- tending longitudinally and perforations 10 through which air or steam escapes or sprays through vthe cloth covering 11 of the head.

The other' complementary part of the head `.consists of a hollow steam heating chamber 12 which is utilized for heating the press head with steam under pressure. A passage 29a `connects the upper steam heating chamber l2 with the spray chamber 8a thru the valve housing 2() to conve-y steam from chamber 12 to the perforations 10. The channeled spray ychamber 9 is used for spraying steam or air onto the work on the buck 5.' The steam may `be supplied to the clos'edheating chamber 12 and spray chamber 9 from a boiler heated with gas or other heating means. The steam may be supplied to the chamber 12 from a pipe 14C Vwhich has a swiveled connection 15. I have shown an improved valve 20 for controlling the spraying or introduction of steam to spray chamber 9 and which will be hereinafter described in combination with an air spray control valve 19. In the type of press illustrated, I have shown a combination air and steam valve in which handle 16 may be pressed downwardly for opening the steam valve 2O and this same handle may be pressed upwardly for opening the air valve 19. I iind it preferable to have a handle which will automatically move to closed position upon the manual release thereof.

The valve illustrated is constructed as follows: The assembly has a flanged base 17 which is used for attachment to the upper outer surface of the steam heating chamber 12 as by bolts 18. The compound valve assembly shown in Figure 2 has two stem casings, the casing 19 for compressed air and the casing 20 for steam. The casing 19 has a cylindrical vertical opening 21 within which a hexagonal shaped piston o-r valve head 22 is reciprocable. The segmental openings permit the passage of compressed air from below the piston to the valve. The piston is hollow and a spring 23 tends to normally press the valve head 22 upwardly so that a valve disc 24 mounted in the upper portion of the opening 21 engages a seat 25. Attached to the piston or valve head 22 is a valve control rod 26 which extends upwardly through a packing gland 27. Air is supplied to the valve chamber or housing 19 from the pipe 14a and with the downward movement of the rod 26, the air passes between the valve head 22 and seat 25 and discharges downwardly through a passage 28 into a tubular connection 29 into the channeled spray portion 9 of the pressing plate 8a to air spray and cool the work on the buck 5. It will thus be obvious that downward pressure of the rod 26,0pens the valve 19 while the air pressure tends to automatically close the valve 19 which action is augmented by the spring 23. Thus under normal conditions with the valve closed there is no tendency for air to leak past the packing gland 27.

The steam spray valve 20 which is of similar construction to the air spray valve 19 eX- cepting that steam is admitted to the valve 2O from a port 140 which registers with the opening 14?), is illustrated in larger scale in Figure 3. There is a hollow piston or valve head 22a against which a spring 23a presses. The valve head 22a is hexagonal or octagonal 1n shape to allow steam to pass upwardly through the segmentary apertures between the valve head 22a and the inner wall of the cylindrical opening 21a. The valve disc 24a is secured to the top of the piston or valve head 22a and is thus normally held against its seat 25a by the pressure of steam below the piston and by the spring 23a. A valve rod 26a extends up through the valve casing. A packing gland 27a prevents leakage along the rod. After passing the valve seat, steam from the heating chamber 12 and the opening 14?) passes through a passage 28a to a tubular opening 29a which conveys it to the channeled part 9 to spray outwardly thru the perforations 10. The purpose of the channels as noted, is to distribute the steam so that it will pass uniformly through the perforations 10.

The detail of the steam spray valve 2O construction is best illustrated in Figure 3 while the unit or single handle control arrangement is best illustrated in Figure 2. The valve control handle 16 is mounted on a rocker arm 30 which has spaced bearing portions 31 and 31a. Referring to Figure 2 a clockwise downward movement of the handle 16 causes the portion 31a to press down the rod 26a and thus open the steam passage 28a to the perforated spray chamber 9. The valve handle 16 is pivoted in a bracket support 32 extended from one of the valve casings. Upward movement of the handle 16 opens the air spray valve 19 while steam spray valve 20 remains closed.

The operation of the press is in accordance with standard practice on this type of machine. rThe clothing to be pressed is inserted on the buck and the head manually lowered; as the lever 8 approaches the magnet l which has been energized, it is strongly attracted and the garment is held in a pressing engagement. The operator then presses downwardly on the handle 16. Steam under light pressure then sprays through the press cloth 11 into the garment. Then just before the head is released by the operator opening the switch control handle 7, the handle 16 is elevated which allows compressed air to pass through the heated channels 9, thereby becoming highly heated, then through the cloth 11 to thoroughly drive out all moisture remaining in the steamed garment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a pressing element of a pressing machine havingan internal chamber for a heating medium and a lengthwise channel having liet openings opening through the pressing face of a pressing element, of a valve comprising a casing mounted on the pressing element and having a passage communicating with said channel, a pair of separated chambers one being connected to the internal steam chamber of the pressing element and the other having an inlet pipe for compressed air, normally closed spring pressed valve heads in said chambers and having stems eX- tending to the outside of the casing and a lever pivoted to the casing and coacting with said stems on opposite sides of its axis, whereby when the lever is rocked in one direction from neutral position, one valve is opened and when it is rocked in the other direction, the other valve is opened.

2. A combination steam and air spray valve for garment or ironing presses having a press jaw including a heating chamber and a perforated spray chamber, comprising a pair of spaced valve housings each of which is connected to the spray chamber, valve head and seat means in each housing, an air supply connected with one valve housing, a steam supply connected to the other valve housing; and a single control handle operatively related with each valve housing, valve head and seat means therein; whereby either steam or air may be admitted to the perforated spray chamber at the will of an operator by actuating the control handle in one direction to open one valve and in the other direction to open the other valve.

3. A combination steam and air spray valve for garment or ironing presses having a press jaw including a heating chamber and a perforated spray chamber, comprising valve housing means, including an air spray valve connected with the perforated chamber, and a steam spray valve connected with the perforated chamber, bracket means mounted between the two valves, and a single rocker handle pivoted on the bracket means and disposed in operative engagement with both spray valves; whereby downward motion of the handle opens one valve, and upward motion thereof opens the other valve.

4. A combination steam and air spray valve for garment or ironing presses having a press jaw including a heating chamber and a perforated spray chamber, comprising valve housing means, including an air spray valve connected with the perforated chamber, and a steam spray valve connected with the perforated chamber, a liange member on which each valve is mounted and by which the valves are installed on a press j aw, bracket means mounted between the two valves, and a single rocker handle pivoted on the bracket means and disposed in operative engagement with both spray valves; whereby downward motion of the handle opens one valve, and upward motion thereof opens the other valve.

ARTHUR E. SNOW. 

